“More vegetarian/vegan recipes, please!” is a request that we get often on our social media feeds. Today, we’re adding this Easy Stir Fried Cabbage with Glass Noodles to our extensive vegetarian/vegan recipe collection. This is one of those dishes that makes me think that if all vegetarian dishes tasted like it, I wouldn’t mind converting!
In all seriousness though, we could all stand to eat less meat, so we’re always looking to add to our vegetarian/vegan repertoire. Cooking this stir fried cabbage is so easy, there’s no excuse for you not to give it a try!
The first thing that might come to mind in response to that is that you don’t like cabbage, so I’ll see if I can convince you otherwise…
A big reason why you don’t like cabbage is probably because the standard green ones sold in US supermarkets are not that good! They’re round, heavy, and very solid. This variety doesn’t have much taste, and it turns starchy once cooked. Asian supermarkets are where I buy my cabbage, and they stock Asian varieties that are lighter green in color, less dense, and more loosely layered.
There’s the flat pumpkin-shaped cabbage (sometimes known as Taiwanese cabbage). This is usually what I buy, but I’ve also seen two other Asian varieties––both are very green, loosely layered, and one has a slightly pointy top. They might not look like your everyday cabbage, but they taste much sweeter and crunchier even after they’ve been cooked. Try one of these varieties, and trust me, you’ll never look back!
Once you’ve found the right cabbage for you, it’s so versatile. It can add a nice sweet crunch in salads, soups and stews, and, of course, it makes excellent stir fries like this one and our Chinese Dry Pot Cabbage Stir Fry. As a young kid in a rural Hubei village, scoring a cabbage stem was a treat and a great snack. You would shave off the rough outer layer, and the stem crunched like a carrot with just a hint of sweetness! Who knew a little cabbage could make a kid so happy?
Not to mention it’s a healthy cruciferous vegetable and stays fresh for a really long time in the refrigerator. In short, I love cabbage! I always have one in my fridge, and without fail, it’s a vegetable I can count on at the end of the week when my other leafy greens might be wilted in the vegetable crisper.
Soak 2 small bundles of dried glass noodles in cold water for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Drain and cut the glass noodles in half lengthwise. Set aside.
Julienne the cabbage thinly.
Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing together 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce, ½ teaspoon dark vinegar, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon sugar, and ½ cup water.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat. Cook the ginger and garlic until the garlic has browned lightly.
Add the cabbage, and turn the heat to the highest setting. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the cabbage is slightly wilted.
Add the dried chilies (if using).
Add the prepared sauce and the glass noodles.
Stir and mix everything well, turning down the heat a bit if the dish is becoming too dry and risks getting burned.
Salt to taste and add the scallions (I forgot this step in the photos, but you shouldn’t!). Stir to combine once more, and plate!
Serve your stir fried cabbage and glass noodles with a hot bowl of white rice!
- 2 small bundles of dried glass noodles
- 1½ pounds cabbage
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon dark vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 slices ginger, julienned
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3-4 dried red chilies, roughly chopped (optional)
- Salt, to taste
- 2 scallions, chopped
- Soak 2 small bundles of dried glass noodles in cold water for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Drain and cut the glass noodles in half lengthwise. Set aside.
- Julienne the cabbage thinly. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing together 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce, ½ teaspoon dark vinegar, ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon sugar, and ½ cup water.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat. Cook the ginger and garlic until the garlic has browned lightly. Add the cabbage, and turn the heat to the highest setting. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the cabbage is slightly wilted. Add the dried chilies (if using).
- Add the prepared sauce and the glass noodles. Stir and mix everything well, turning down the heat a bit if the dish is becoming too dry and risks getting burned. Salt to taste and add the scallions. Stir to combine once more, and serve!
Vanessa says
This was absolutely delicious! I did find that the noodles was a bit hard so next time I’ll try soaking them in hot water. And I omitted the chilies since the white pepper have it enough of a kick.
Judy says
Sounds lovely, Vanessa, feel free to adjust the taste to your liking :-)
Kate says
Another home run!!! This was so delicious. I only had Napa cabbage but it worked fine, and I added a little pork to make it a full meal. So quick, easy and delicious! Your recipes are so dependably good. Thank you!
Judy says
Thank you for your kind words, Kate! So glad you liked it.
Shirley says
Thank you so much for your intro on Taiwanese cabbage – found it at my Asian food store and it’s so delicious! I didn’t have black vinegar so substituted rice vinegar and it was great! Also didn’t put the chilies in, but the vinegar gave the cabbage a slight kick. It brought me back to my childhood when my grandma used to make cabbage and glass noodles – really LOVE your website and get so excited when I see childhood recipes that bring back wonderful food memories!
Judy says
Aren’t they the best? You will never go back to the regular cabbage again.
Jack says
Judy,
That is a great anecdote about eating the cabbage stem as if it were candy. It is something i don’t think i will ever forget. Recently i had the good fortune to eat in a good Cantonese place in HK Fooklore in Wanchai that also served Sichuan food (seems to be a fashion for HK restaurants to combine the two very different cuisines) and had ground pork with vermicelli — a pretty standard dish but they did a great job of it. Not so easy to keep the vermicelli from sticking together and having the other ingredients evenly distributed. Will try this recipe using cabbage instead of pork but I know i wont be able to do it as well as they did.
Jack
Judy says
Hi Jack, apparently I haven’t forgotten the anecdote about the cabbage stem either after more than forty years. Good luck in your attempt in making the dish :-)
Christina says
My dish was tasty, but didn’t turn out red. Any thoughts?
Judy says
Hi Christina, it could be the soy sauce you used. But no worries, it’s the taste that counts :-)
Healthy Kitchen 101 says
Looks tasty! I love cabbage too ❤ However, could I replace glass noodles by other kinds of noodles like eggs?
– Natalie
Judy says
Hi Natalie, you can. Please refer to our Vegetable Chow Mein Noodle recipe for cooking techniques on the egg noodles.
Naomi says
Keep the vegan and vegetarian recipes coming! They are so delicious! And this was amazing!!!!
Judy says
Message well received, Naomi! So glad you like this cabbage recipe.
Jane says
This was so good! Just made this yesterday. I added some scrambled eggs for extra protein (great addition for those non-vegans out there). Thanks for this recipe!!
Judy says
Hi Jane, here is the version with eggs that I posted when we first started the blog. It’s one of my favorites.
Angeline says
Interesting observation about the different cabbages! You’re absolutely right the ones sold at the Asian grocery store are much sweeter. My preference is the Taiwanese cabbage variety.
Made this dish couple days ago but I didn’t have enough cabbage at hand so I reduced the quantities accordingly, including the stir fry sauce. What I forgot to account for was glass noodles soaks up so much sauce that the dish turned out a bit too dry, but it has potential.
I’m already looking forward to trying this recipe again because I love glass noodles!
Judy says
I know you will like it, Angeline ^_^
Shirley Spafford says
For someone with Celiac Disease, it is difficult to cook Chinese food since no gluten is tolerated and it is impossible in Chinese restaurants. Some gluten-free recipes would be welcome.
Alfred Guell says
I also have celiac disease and I find it easy to cook chinese food. There is not that much wheat flour in the southern China recipes and for many northern China recipes it is easy to replace the wheat ingredients with fitting supplements. For soy sauce, I recommend going for a naturaly brewed one, as they don‘t have any gluten left normally. I can use Kikoman soy sauce without ever having a problem, many chinese ones give me trouble.
Al says
Hi I cook Chinese food for my sister with celiac and a lot of recipes are possible with substitutions.
For this recipe I would sub the light and dark soy sauce for gluten free soy sauce and the dark rice vinegar for ordinary rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
Glass noodles should be gluten free anyway.
Always check labels carefully when buying products though as some ingredients (e.g rice vinegar) are gluten free in most brands but not all.
Judy says
Thank you so much for your input, Al! You are very helpful!
Al says
Thanks Judy, love your blog :-)
Judy says
Hi Shirley, I will keep that in mind! Like Al said, many of our recipes can be made gluten free with some substitutions.